Holly Lisle's Blog, page 69

What writing question haven’t I answered yet?

Here’s what I’ve already covered or am covering now.

Building deeper characters
Plotting
Writing scenes
Worldbuilding
Building cultures
Building languages
Building a writing career
Novel revision
Writing short stories
Self-motivation
Buiding self-discipline
Beating writer’s block
Indie book promotion
and I’m building How to Write a Series now…

 

None of these classes came from me sitting down and thinking, “Gee, I’m going to build a class on…”

ALL of them came from writers asking me in-depth questions about subjects I hadn’t yet covered.

So… what do you want to know that isn’t up there yet?

 

 

Racism at Ubisoft? – Far Cry Primal

I play video games in my free time, and decided to try Far Cry Primal. You start out as a young black male — bit of a shift for me, because I prefer to play as a female when the option is offered. In Far Cry Primal, it isn’t. I mention the race of the MC here because it becomes an issue later in this post, so it’s relevant going in.

First, though, let’s establish the setting, because the setting plays into this enormously.

The game starts well. You learn to kill a Woolly Mammoth, pick up the torch for your fallen leader, head out into the wilderness to rescue your people and bring them together.

So. What does Introduction With Woolly Mammoth tell you?

That this story takes place in the temperate northern hemisphere. Start with the Woolly Mammoth’s largest distribution. This is all the area in which Woolly Mammoths appeared.

North America, Northern Europe, Northern Asia. Africans didn’t travel directly to North America (no land bridge — the only one of those was between Northern Asia and North America).

So eliminate North America as the possible location of this story.

So far, so good. At this point, it can take place at any point in northern Europe or Northern Asia, both places with large northern hardwood forests.

The game offers some in-depth resource collection and crafting mechanics. Its primitive-weapons hunting system is good. Nice weapon accuracy, relatively straightforward construction.

So far, I was having fun with the game.

The problem came a lot of hours in, when something that had been pinging at the back of my brain suddenly moved frontward.

Along with all the big predators chomping on you with astonishing regularity, there were these Crazed Neanderthal Killers who came out of the brush to attack with homicidal mania, intent on slaughtering you and all the women and children you were trying to rescue.

And while all the good folks in the story are dark-skinned, every fucking Neanderthal-esque nightmare of homicidal insanity is a light-skinned, kinda-hairy Northern European dude.

Why do I now stake the location in Northern Europe specifically?

Because here’s the known range of the Neanderthal — Northern Europe and the Middle East — and while the skin color of the Neanderthals through its extended range is pure conjecture, LOGICAL conjecture notes that the purpose of very light skin is to toughen skin and nails by increasing keratin, and to facilitate the absorption of Vitamin D in low-light areas.

The Middle East is gets sunlight pretty much straight on. Northern Europe gets it at a sharp angle where more bounces off the atmosphere, and has half a year when it doesn’t get sunlight for all that many hours. (Used to live in Alaska — I learned how this stuff worked when I was nine and ten.)

Very light skin has zero survival value in places that get sunlight straight on.

So by process of elimination, this is Northern Europe.

So here’s the actual story. Africans are invading the homes of Northern Europeans.

So this story is actually about Hairy White Neanderthal dudes who are attacking the invaders to protect their homes and families, told from the point of view of the invaders who are portrayed as heroes.

However, there are no Neanderthal women or Neanderthal children in the game (at least as far in as I played). I guess including them would have made a bit more obvious the racism built into the game. If you were also slaughtering the light-skinned women and children along with the big white guys, someone might make a fuss about that.

But — and again, I have to note that I ditched this game pretty early in — (contrary to archeology and DNA testing, which demonstrate that the Neanderthals interbred with modern humans, and vice versa, across three separate “out of Africa” migrations) when you portray pale-skinned Neanderthal males as crazed killers who must be slaughtered by the dark-skinned heroes, everyone is apparently okay with that.

I looked all over the web for anyone else who had noticed this, and there wasn’t a peep.

Then I tried imagining what would have been the response if the invaders had been white, and the homicidal maniacs protecting their territory while being portrayed as the villains had been black, and I know damn well there would have been a public outcry that would have brought Ubisoft to its knees.

Deservedly so.
My question is this:
Why hasn’t Ubisoft been called out before now for THIS egregious racism?

There is NO acceptable racism.

My response? I have taken the only three options that are given to me.

I bought the game as downloadable content. I can’t get a refund. So I deleted it from my PS4.

I will never buy another game from Ubisoft.

I am posting this review in the hopes of bringing this game and its contents to the attention of others who disapprove of racism. At this point it’s too late to hope that the review could affect the number of sales of Primal. But noting Ubisoft’s racist content in this game might negatively affect sales of its future games.

 

While I welcome comments on this article, READ THE BLOG RULES ON POSTING

If I would have found things changing had I played longer, and if the story got to a place where the indigenous folks and the invaders were living in harmony together and interbreeding to build a new and better humanity, let me know. I’ll re-upload the game, play through to the part where it gets good, and withdraw my comments and observations.

Born from Fire — Now Amazon #1 times Two!

I’m totally failing to be modest, but I’m happy, and this is so COOL!

Came in this morning expecting to see a drop, and instead, now Longview 1: Born from Fire is #1 in TWO categories!

SF/Fantasy Free Short

Born from Fire: Number 1 in SF & Fantasy Short – FREE

Literature & Fiction Free Short

Born from Fire – Number 1 in Literature & Fiction Short FREE

Little Kid –> Christmas Morning –> ME!

Use the link above to take a look and get your free copy if you haven’t already!

 

You DID IT!!! Born from Fire is FREE! And #1 on Amazon!

I’m so excited! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to let Amazon know the book was free everywhere else.

Take a look at the screen shots I just took —

Number #1 in FREE Science Fiction

Born from Fire #1 Amazon Free Science Fiction

#2 In FREE 90-Minute Literature & Fiction Short Reads

#2 In FREE 90-Minute Literature & Fiction Short Reads

Thank you again to everyone who helped.
Get your Free Thank You Copy HERE!

And extra thanks to the folks who have started posting reviews of all three stories. I really appreciate it.

The next two episode are:

The Selling of Suzee Delight

The Philosopher Gambit

And I’m working on The Vipers’ Nest today.

Help Make “Born from Fire” a FREE book

I’ve given Amazon over a month to correct the price on Born from Fire.I’ve let them know, and folks on my SITE have let them know the book is FREE on:

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/born-from-fire
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1197455535
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/born-from-fire-holly-lisle/1125516270
Inktera: http://www.inktera.com/store/title/e9bef6da-15cd-404c-9d03-fa8a7bb78fab

 

Apparently the only thing that is going to make the book FREE permanently on Amazon is if they’re inundated by demands from readers who want to get it ON AMAZON for free.

According to other writers who’ve dealt with this problem, the first three links are the most important.

I know that having just Kobo drop one of my books down by ONE PENNY brought them out of the woodwork to match price.

So they will respond to SOMEONE. But I think it’s going to have to be a lot of folks pretty much all at once.

If you’re willing to help me out, here’s what you do:

Go to this page

https://www.amazon.com/Born-Fire-Tales-Longview-Book-ebook/dp/B01NBW8S2Z/

Scroll down until you find the Product Details (shown in the image below if you get HTML email rather than text email).

Find the link that says, Would you like to tell us about a lower price?

Mutter, “Yes, [dammit, darn it, by golly], I would.”

And then, for as many times as you’re willing to go through the process of telling them (up to FOUR), copy and paste a different one of the links above into their little box.

‘Cause they are NOT listening to me.

And if you already did this for me once before, when it was only free on Smashwords — I’m very sorry to ask again. It turns out (again according to other authors who have had this same problem) Amazon doesn’t consider Smashwords a real market.

Live and learn (that’s me living and learning, not you…)

So this time, I’m not including the Smashwords link. I’m only including the ones Amazon considers real competition.

If you’re willing to help me make this book permanently free on Amazon, thank you. I’ll let you know when this little campaign actually pays off, so you can get your free copy then.

Holly

P.S. If you’re a writer and ever find yourself in this situation, I’ll be happy to return the favor.

My How To Write A Series Course is LIVE!

Today you’re going to get a demo of what the SPLINTERS version of your How to Write a Series lessons will look like.

Why?

Because I spent yesterday from around 11AM until 2:24AM this morning writing the registration page copy and then building the registration page, which goes into more detail on what’ll be in the class.

This is RAW first draft, and a lot of it was both written and put together when I was tired.

These are the same conditions under which I’ll be building the lessons, so what you’ll see on the registration page is about what you’ll be seeing going through the class.

Nothing fancy. Just plain content without frills.

Some typos. Some spellos. Some places where I get…a bit strange. (When I’m tired, my internal censor shorts out, and I get funny. But weird funny.)

I’m pretty sure I kept the wicked wango tongue off the page (no hair-curling profanity).

I vaguely remember a lot of carpentry analogies.

I KNOW I got the details of what I’m planning for each of the upcoming lessons down on the page.

When you sign up, you’ll receive an email with a link to your classroom. Your lessons will all be delivered IN THE CLASSROOM as downloadable

PDFs.

The registration page link is here. https://hollyswritingclasses.com/shop/how-to-write-a-series/

I’ll be on the forums today answering questions on the HTWAS board (linked from the bottom of all HTWAS classroom pages)…

…but I’m also starting the next HTWAS lesson.

If you’re coming in early, thank you. You’ll get my reasons WHY on the registration page.

REALLY IMPORTANT!

If you have ANY problems, Becca is on standby in the Help Desk today. https://novelwritingschool.com/support/

CURRENT BIG COURSE STUDENTS!

Your discount buttons are in the HTTS and HTRYN classrooms. When you’ve read the class description, use the link above the purchase buttons to go to to your class!

The SPLINTERS Version of How to Write a Series is Live!

Today you’re going to get a demo of what the SPLINTERS version of your How to Write a Series lessons will look like.

Why?

Because I spent yesterday from around 11AM until 2:24AM this morning writing the registration page copy and then building the registration page, which goes into more detail on what’ll be in the class.

This is RAW first draft, and a lot of it was both written and put together when I was tired.

These are the same conditions under which I’ll be building the lessons, so what you’ll see on the registration page is about what you’ll be seeing going through the class.

Nothing fancy. Just plain content without frills.

Some typos. Some spellos. Some places where I get…a bit strange. (When I’m tired, my internal censor shorts out, and I get funny. But weird funny.)

I’m pretty sure I kept the wicked wango tongue off the page (no hair-curling profanity).

I vaguely remember a lot of carpentry analogies.

I KNOW I got the details of what I’m planning for each of the upcoming lessons down on the page.

When you sign up, you’ll receive an email with a link to your classroom. Your lessons will all be delivered IN THE CLASSROOM as downloadable

PDFs.

The registration page link is here. https://hollyswritingclasses.com/shop/how-to-write-a-series/

I’ll be on the forums today answering questions on the HTWAS board (linked from the bottom of all HTWAS classroom pages)…

…but I’m also starting the next HTWAS lesson.

If you’re coming in early, thank you. You’ll get my reasons WHY on the registration page.

REALLY IMPORTANT!

If you have ANY problems, Becca is on standby in the Help Desk today. https://novelwritingschool.com/support/

CURRENT BIG COURSE STUDENTS!

Your discount buttons are in the HTTS and HTRYN classrooms. When you’ve read the class description, use the link above the purchase buttons to go to to your class!

Look at the difference your ‘write series fiction’ questions made!

Last week, I asked folks to throw their toughest questions about writing series fiction at me. And I posted my tentative class plan for bringing out How to Write a Series, Version 2, to show you what I was already planning on answering.

The response I got was tremendous. Fantastic, intelligent, well-thought-out, and in some cases, really frustrated questions.

Your questions completely changed the way I was looking at the class and at what needed to be in it. I’ve been working nonstop since then, figuring out how to create the class YOU need, how to fit everything in, how to make this a great experience that will teach you to take your series fiction where it needs to go.

I wanted to make sure I answered every question inside of a lesson, so I:

copied out all the questions,
sorted them into categories,
put them into the order you have to learn this
based on what you have to know first…
and what builds on what you’ve learned before

 

And this is what I came up with…

You can see from the NEW diagram that getting the answers to all of your questions into the class added an extra month and a half of lessons.

I know that the diagram is tough to read if you’re on a mobile device, have visual difficulties, don’t have a big screen, or just don’t like looking at big images. So I also added…

The Downloadable Course Plan

How to Write a Series Course PlanDownload Now!

This is a PDF with the complete outline in text format, so it will be machine-readable, if that’s a consideration.

Your questions affected every lesson but the first four (three of which which were already done).

They will affect the price of the class, too. The final price will be somewhat higher because of the extra month and a half of lessons.

It will not affect the introductory price of the class.

Here’s what I said in the first email I sent out on opening How To Write A Series: VERSION 2:

When the class is completed, it’s going to sell

for $377, or five monthly payments of $77/month.

(Assuming I don’t get a lot of questions that require

me to make it longer).

When I open it for … ah … Splinter-Hardy

Writers, you and I are both acknowledging that

you’re getting good, battle-tested information

in imperfect, gonna-have-to-be-revised

first draft.

It also means that if you ask a killer question

in the class while I’m building the course, your

question may be answered by a lesson which

will expand the size of the class, but not the

amount you pay for it.

And because THERE WILL BE SPLINTERS…

You aren’t going to pay the final price,

whether it’s $377 or more.

For the folks who don’t own it already, however,

if you join when I open the class to new

students…

You’ll pay either $40/month for five months, or $197 total. No matter how big the class gets.

So let’s talk about price, because I know it’s a huge consideration.

The folks who get in early get the price I promised in the email.

I said it, I meant it, and if you buy early, you’ll get every in-version upgrade, addition, and update with no extra charge ever.

BUT there’s a price schedule:

Until Lesson 8 is published: $197 or $40/month for 5 months
Then until Lesson 12 is published: $267 or $55/month for 5 months
Then until Lesson 16 is published: $337 or $70/month for 5 months
Then until lesson 20 is published: $407 or $70/month for 6 months
Then the final price: $457 or $77/month for 6 months

 

I’m hoping to do the lessons at a pace of one per week. If I can hit all the deadlines, that will be a price bump every four weeks. When I don’t get derailed by WordPress eating my site (which is what crashed the progress in Version 1), I’m pretty good at hitting deadlines.

So figure you’ll have four weeks to get in before any price increase.

Folks who owned any version of the How to Write a Series EXPANSION already own VERSION 2.
The four-week free bonus mini-course at the end of How to Revise Your Novel DOES NOT count.

To find out if you already have the upcoming class, please check first to see if it’s in your classroom:

Log into your account at HollysWritingClasses.com (link opens in new tab)
Look for the green How to Write a Series button that looks like this:
If you cannot find that button, take your receipt for the class to Rebecca in the Help Desk (link opens in new tab)

 

This is going to be launching REALLY soon. Keep an eye on your email for the How to Write a Series is LIVE! notice.

If you don’t get email from me and you want to secure the best price early, sign up here.

ADDED RIGHT AFTER I SENT THIS:

Big-Class Owners of How to Think Sideways and How to Revise Your Novel WILL GET the 20% Big Class Student discount on all prices of the class, up through completed final. You’ll have special discount purchase buttons in your classrooms.

 

ADDED around 8 PM:

I just discovered than in the PDF version (which I’m using to write the detailed course description for the registration page) I forgot to include the details on LESSON 24.

So.

LESSON 24: Preventing Series Burn-Out: Your Readers’ and Yours

Twisting in New Directions
People You Thought You Knew
New Faces, New Places

 

I aplogize for the omission.

GOOD Questions, Guys. What’ll Be In “How To Write A Series” NOW!

Last week, I asked folks to throw their toughest questions about writing series fiction at me. And I posted my tentative class plan for bringing out How to Write a Series, Version 2, to show you what I was already planning on answering.

The response I got was tremendous. Fantastic, intelligent, well-thought-out, and in some cases, really frustrated questions.

Your questions completely changed the way I was looking at the class and at what needed to be in it. I’ve been working nonstop since then, figuring out how to create the class YOU need, how to fit everything in, how to make this a great experience that will teach you to take your series fiction where it needs to go.

I wanted to make sure I answered every question inside of a lesson, so I:

copied out all the questions,
sorted them into categories,
put them into the order you have to learn this
based on what you have to know first…
and what builds on what you’ve learned before

 

And this is what I came up with…

You can see from the NEW diagram that getting the answers to all of your questions into the class added an extra month and a half of lessons.

I know that the diagram is tough to read if you’re on a mobile device, have visual difficulties, don’t have a big screen, or just don’t like looking at big images. So I also added…

The Downloadable Course Plan

How to Write a Series Course PlanDownload Now!

This is a PDF with the complete outline in text format, so it will be machine-readable, if that’s a consideration.

Your questions affected every lesson but the first four (three of which which were already done).

They will affect the price of the class, too. The final price will be somewhat higher because of the extra month and a half of lessons.

It will not affect the introductory price of the class.

Here’s what I said in the first email I sent out on opening How To Write A Series: VERSION 2:

When the class is completed, it’s going to sell

for $377, or five monthly payments of $77/month.

(Assuming I don’t get a lot of questions that require

me to make it longer).

When I open it for … ah … Splinter-Hardy

Writers, you and I are both acknowledging that

you’re getting good, battle-tested information

in imperfect, gonna-have-to-be-revised

first draft.

It also means that if you ask a killer question

in the class while I’m building the course, your

question may be answered by a lesson which

will expand the size of the class, but not the

amount you pay for it.

And because THERE WILL BE SPLINTERS…

You aren’t going to pay the final price,

whether it’s $377 or more.

For the folks who don’t own it already, however,

if you join when I open the class to new

students…

You’ll pay either $40/month for five months, or $197 total. No matter how big the class gets.

So let’s talk about price, because I know it’s a huge consideration.

The folks who get in early get the price I promised in the email.

I said it, I meant it, and if you buy early, you’ll get every in-version upgrade, addition, and update with no extra charge ever.

BUT there’s a price schedule:

Until Lesson 8 is published: $197 or $40/month for 5 months
Then until Lesson 12 is published: $267 or $55/month for 5 months
Then until Lesson 16 is published: $337 or $70/month for 5 months
Then until lesson 20 is published: $407 or $70/month for 6 months
Then the final price: $457 or $77/month for 6 months

 

I’m hoping to do the lessons at a pace of one per week. If I can hit all the deadlines, that will be a price bump every four weeks. When I don’t get derailed by WordPress eating my site (which is what crashed the progress in Version 1), I’m pretty good at hitting deadlines.

So figure you’ll have four weeks to get in before any price increase.

Folks who owned any version of the How to Write a Series EXPANSION already own VERSION 2.
The four-week free bonus mini-course at the end of How to Revise Your Novel DOES NOT count.

To find out if you already have the upcoming class, please check first to see if it’s in your classroom:

Log into your account at HollysWritingClasses.com (link opens in new tab)
Look for the green How to Write a Series button that looks like this:
If you cannot find that button, take your receipt for the class to Rebecca in the Help Desk (link opens in new tab)

 

This is going to be launching REALLY soon. Keep an eye on your email for the How to Write a Series is LIVE! notice.

If you don’t get email from me and you want to secure the best price early, sign up here.

ADDED RIGHT AFTER I SENT THIS:

Big-Class Owners of How to Think Sideways and How to Revise Your Novel WILL GET the 20% Big Class Student discount on all prices of the class, up through completed final. You’ll have special discount purchase buttons in your classrooms.

 

ADDED around 8 PM:

I just discovered than in the PDF version (which I’m using to write the detailed course description for the registration page) I forgot to include the details on LESSON 24.

So.

LESSON 24: Preventing Series Burn-Out: Your Readers’ and Yours

Twisting in New Directions
People You Thought You Knew
New Faces, New Places

 

I aplogize for the omission.

Kate Wordly, Intrepid but Annoying Help Bot, is gone

It’s truly remarkable how much a web bot can piss people off.

You wouldn’t have thought it from looking at her, but Kate (and through her, me) was subject to astounding amounts of anger, profanity, and abuse.

I thought the Chit Chat Chimp app I bought to use on the site would be helpful. I hadn’t even begun to imagine the sort of folks who would misuse the service.

So… with apologies to those of you who found the little sidebar chat app genuinely useful, I’ve removed her.

If you have questions about what I have on the site, the on-site search bar is at the top right on every page, and it works nicely.